Sui Generis - Kickstarter Update #6, Combat

November 16th, 2012, 16:21

The sixth update for Sui Generis (52K/150K, 13 days to go) talks about producing a new environment type; a wasteland, character animations and a new combat video.

The inputs for our animations are hand crafted. The animations currently in the game were made by Madoc while he designed the system and tools behind them. Madoc is not an animator, nor a swordsman and he had plenty to do besides making animations! Hiring a professional animator is at the top of our list of priorities and we are already taking some under consideration. The dynamic behaviours and procedural elements of animations are also something we hope to improve significantly so that the characters appear more reactive and sure footed.
In the first part of the video Kieran demonstrates how the controls work. Most of the weapons in our videos are supposed to be heavy, in the first part of this video we decreased the mass of the weapons, sped up the animations and removed some of the worst wobble from them. The animations are still amateurish but hopefully you can see that the worst problems come from the quality of the animations.

Also the sword swings which admittedly look a bit wild, remind me of the other day when I was cutting down a tree with an axe due to a storm. After a few minutes I was so fatigued I thought I was going to puke. Those guys looked like they were going to pass out or vomit in their helmets in pure exhaustion. I think that is actually realistic! Reminds me also of "Excalibur" (the movie) where combat shows the true cost of wearing heavy plate.

Yes, the combat looks awesome. But that's just icing on the cake, as far as I'm concerned. The whole concept is extremely ambitious. Not since Bethesda first announced a sequel to Daggerfall have I wanted a game this much. Too bad they don't seem likely to reach their Kickstarter goal.

They may not make it this time (there is still a chance if they keep the updates coming and get some press coverage), but they seem to be dedicated to continue regardless, and I could well imagine a second, better prepared attempt to work out for them.

Its such a shame if this project won't meet it's goal. They should have done these kind of updates right from the kickstarter launch. There is still hope ofcourse if they get enough media coverage and if people keep spreading the word about this project.

By the way I noticed that they have rewriten the whole "about the game" section. Its so much more informative now.

They could keep those flailing wildly animations for low skill levelled characters. A lot of us might like to imagine we'd look cool swinging a sword but even a short youtube search will show those animations are really quite realistic.

While the KS might fail, I hardly think they'll give up on the game. They have a new writer even before the campaign's over. For combat mechanics, I wish they'd sign on spookyfx/Duke Patrick of TES combat modging. The things that guy has done despite the limitations of the CK makes his mods indispensable to my TES gaming.

They may not make it this time (there is still a chance if they keep the updates coming and get some press coverage), but they seem to be dedicated to continue regardless, and I could well imagine a second, better prepared attempt to work out for them.

Incredible what popular pressure can do. I wonder what is going to be left of the original concept.

OK, finally pledged for this one. This is a much better pitch they have now than they had initially. I doubt many people revisit a Kickstarter after seeing it the first time. These folks on Kickstarter really need to have a proper pitch planned on day one. Someone should post a Kickstarter tutorial, if one hasn't been already.

Whether the game is made or not, there's a huge future in that engine. Suggestions:

—Clean up the running animation a bit (too stiff in the upper body)

—I would like to see some sword and board action to see if the physics hold up to getting a flail shot and taking that impact.

—It would be great if they had finishing moves of some kind instead of just standing there after your enemy falls. Now, I'm not talking about Dragon Age 2 awesome button finishing moves, but it would be nice to see a sword plunged into the heart or something…